Annan tours China's new peacekeeping training centre

Secretary-General Kofi Annan today toured China’s new peacekeeping training centre in the outskirts of Beijing, which was completed just last year for the purpose of readying civilian police for United Nations operations.

Mr. Annan spoke to the 90 police officers preparing to be sent to Haiti at the Langfang compound south of the Chinese capital. "There is great need for your talent, your help and your contribution, and I am sure you will do well in Haiti," he said.

The Secretary-General, in China for an official visit, then went to the Eco-Village at Liuminying, featuring environmentally friendly farming, animal husbandry and biogas production. He told the villagers and environmental experts there that they were helping China to achieve a vision of a "balanced, well-rounded society."

From there, Mr. Annan returned to Beijing, where he was joined by his wife, Nane, for a visit to an AIDS voluntary counselling and confidential testing centre. They met privately first with an AIDS patient who was in counselling, and then with seven other infected individuals.

The Secretary-General told the press that he had met with "courageous people who are not only living with the condition but are also determined to share their experience with others." He added that it would be helpful "if we could encourage people we know to come and get tested."

Mrs. Annan added, "It is so important to reach out to all levels of society to raise awareness about AIDS because that is the way we can stop it at the early stage."

In a separate programme in the morning, Mrs. Annan visited a water, sanitation and hygiene project supported by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) 40 miles northeast of Beijing. She talked to the children at Majuan Primary School about the hygiene messages they were learning in school and taking home.

Later in the day, she was joined by Chinese actress Jiang Wenli at a community-based HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment centre in Guan County. There they met a group of farmers living with HIV/AIDS who are receiving free anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment.

"By reaching out and caring for others and breaking the silence that surrounds the epidemic," Mrs. Annan said to the centre directors and supporters, "you are helping people to cope with the disease and helping to prevent its spread."